Day Watch isn't that much better than its predecessor, Night Watch, about Russian supernatural forces dueling (or, more often, in a truce) over who should rule the world. Matter of fact, it probably isn't better. But somehow, this ultra-nutty, incoherent story is executed with the kind of visual panache that comes around as though in a vision of a glue huffing with a pail of Russian vodka on the side. Director Timur Bekmambetov isn't content to just, say, leave a shot on a character for longer than six seconds. Heavens no! What if someone doesn't get that little visual detail, or that close-up that speaks, um, some words? There's an interesting (well, sort of interesting in a 'bad-movie' kind of way) parallel with how the some of the action scenes are edited and some of the dialog scenes don't have much of a tempo differential. Despite the buzz-kill from the overage of imagery, there's something to his work that's... something.
Eisenstein, dear readers, he definitely is NOT. But Day Watch provides some of the silliest and just downright hysterical and harrowingly delirious surreal visions in recent epic movies. Certainly if one's seen other movies that have come out about the face-off between 'light' and 'dark' forces (The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, ding-ding-ding), this one isn't as crappy as them, which is a plus. Maybe it's just an ecstasy, no matter with the piecing together of different plot strands (i.e. Anton and son, Anton and new-girl Svetlana, the young vampire and his kooky father, Anton's son and Zavulon the cumbersome and fun head honcho of the Dark ones, the girl Alisa and her scorned past relationship ended in a flash) as something of a twist-and-shout match. But the fun isn't in plot, anyway, but in the would-be hammy performances that these guys (and you can tell from the making-of on the DVD) take so damn seriously.
Thank goodness, then, that in the midst of this 'city-fantasy' as the producer dubs it, Bekmambetov allows for some earned camp, like when Anton- in disguise as a switcheroo with another Light-one agent- reveals to Svletlana that she is really Anton, and then Svetlana gets mad (she's in the shower, by the way), and then the two have an explosive, sensual kiss as they're transposed in front of a jungle waterfall (?) Or with little things like that freaky spider-doll-head-out-of-Toy-Story-thing during the climactic birthday party. Of course, a lot of things are unintentionally funny, such as Zavulon unleashing a long, gigantic whip and lashing it in slow-motion at Anton/girl which lasts about five minutes! A lot of the mockery that I mean to impose for this movie though shouldn't excuse the fact that this director, as nutty and begging-to-break-mainstream as he is (which, with his upcoming film Wanted, he is), does have a strong vision at work. You might not agree with how it's pulled off. Matter of fact, you'll probably hate the hell out of it. I came close to just turning off the shenanigans at one or two or three points. But somehow I was drawn into the cheesy save-the-world-with-chalk plot, the brilliant little car commercial midway through as Alisa drives it along at top speed alongside the Dark One's apartment building, and the madcap visual effects that are not quite out of Hollywood but have the charm to try. And I even like Khabensky as the (anti) hero of the story, who is a waste and keeps making mistakes left and right, which ends up tying into the central conflict and conceit of the chalk. He's got a sleazy skill in portraying Anton, and we root for him against all better judgment. Kudos should also go to Verzhbitsky as the devilish Zavulon, and the hotness of Friske (Poroshina is very ineffectual, however, as the one-note Svetlana).
So strap in for a ride that isn't a total mess of apocalyptic-proportions, but definitely won't wind up on your list of favorite sequels of ever. It's a crazy Russian sci-fi flick that wants to join the big leagues, and is damned hard pressed to nearly veer into being exploitation fare.
Eisenstein, dear readers, he definitely is NOT. But Day Watch provides some of the silliest and just downright hysterical and harrowingly delirious surreal visions in recent epic movies. Certainly if one's seen other movies that have come out about the face-off between 'light' and 'dark' forces (The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, ding-ding-ding), this one isn't as crappy as them, which is a plus. Maybe it's just an ecstasy, no matter with the piecing together of different plot strands (i.e. Anton and son, Anton and new-girl Svetlana, the young vampire and his kooky father, Anton's son and Zavulon the cumbersome and fun head honcho of the Dark ones, the girl Alisa and her scorned past relationship ended in a flash) as something of a twist-and-shout match. But the fun isn't in plot, anyway, but in the would-be hammy performances that these guys (and you can tell from the making-of on the DVD) take so damn seriously.
Thank goodness, then, that in the midst of this 'city-fantasy' as the producer dubs it, Bekmambetov allows for some earned camp, like when Anton- in disguise as a switcheroo with another Light-one agent- reveals to Svletlana that she is really Anton, and then Svetlana gets mad (she's in the shower, by the way), and then the two have an explosive, sensual kiss as they're transposed in front of a jungle waterfall (?) Or with little things like that freaky spider-doll-head-out-of-Toy-Story-thing during the climactic birthday party. Of course, a lot of things are unintentionally funny, such as Zavulon unleashing a long, gigantic whip and lashing it in slow-motion at Anton/girl which lasts about five minutes! A lot of the mockery that I mean to impose for this movie though shouldn't excuse the fact that this director, as nutty and begging-to-break-mainstream as he is (which, with his upcoming film Wanted, he is), does have a strong vision at work. You might not agree with how it's pulled off. Matter of fact, you'll probably hate the hell out of it. I came close to just turning off the shenanigans at one or two or three points. But somehow I was drawn into the cheesy save-the-world-with-chalk plot, the brilliant little car commercial midway through as Alisa drives it along at top speed alongside the Dark One's apartment building, and the madcap visual effects that are not quite out of Hollywood but have the charm to try. And I even like Khabensky as the (anti) hero of the story, who is a waste and keeps making mistakes left and right, which ends up tying into the central conflict and conceit of the chalk. He's got a sleazy skill in portraying Anton, and we root for him against all better judgment. Kudos should also go to Verzhbitsky as the devilish Zavulon, and the hotness of Friske (Poroshina is very ineffectual, however, as the one-note Svetlana).
So strap in for a ride that isn't a total mess of apocalyptic-proportions, but definitely won't wind up on your list of favorite sequels of ever. It's a crazy Russian sci-fi flick that wants to join the big leagues, and is damned hard pressed to nearly veer into being exploitation fare.